11-5-2006 In this city, even the good guys get slimed


The mailman came and went Saturday and left behind a pile of refuse headed straight to the circular file lined with one of those pretty blue bags with the logo on it.

But after a second or two, he returned, knocked on the door, held out a plain-looking envelope for inspection and asked, “Is this one yours?” Well, it had my name on it, only misspelled. And it had one of the two digits of my street address correct, although, there is no “63” on Thompson Street. Assuming it was yet another of those thoroughly amusing hate mail pieces I get every now and again, I told him it had to be intended for me.

So, I grabbed my nifty letter opener and ripped the thing from end to end only to find one of those anti-Pashinski mailers that made the pages of both local newspapers this morning. It’s typical when you consider the anonymous source. The figures included are wrong, it’s sophomoric at best and if somebody actually “waited 20 years to write this letter” as the thing states, well, then maybe the Times Leader had better resurrect the SAYSO column right quick. Hey, it’s cheaper than stamps and envelopes, no?

According to the anonymous author of said letter, Eddie Day, FORCED THE NANTICOKE SCHOOL BOARD TO RAISE TAXES BECAUSE OF A SWEET HEART TEACHERS CONTRACT.

I do not reside in Nanticoke, nor would I ever consider doing so. And as a result of not living there, I am not privy to every minute detail of the legendary school strike in that dying city. It’s been said that it was a protracted and very bitter battle and in the end, the teacher’s got the compensation they were demanding. And that stands out how exactly? Sounds eerily familiar, hayna?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t the far-flung teachers unions get what they want every single time they get to getting after it? I mean, you know how it works in this state. The school district has to, by law, get in 180 days of school. The district has seniors who do not want to graduate in late August. So the district gets it’s phlegm all pumped up, calls the union greedy bastards all, but relents in the end.

So by extension, didn’t he do exactly what his “constituents”--the teachers--called upon him to do: fight for their best interests?

Now some might call that a stretch, but every person that ever sought a single vote has claimed “I’ll fight for you,” which annoys me every time I hear it. Excuse me, but name for me a single person in Harrisburg that sincerely has my best interests at heart, and I’ll accuse you of tipping too much Boone’s Farm apple wine.

The mailman also dropped off a Pashinski mailer that boasts “He’ll fight to make healthcare affordable for our families.” And the way I see it, when prompted to, he will fight the good fight.

But what other viable option do we have? Should we vote for Christine Katsock who is promising an elimination of property taxes? Does anyone actually believe that? Anyone? As with all of her other multitudinous campaigns, she’s got “the plan.” First she had the plan to save Wilkes-Barre and now she’s got the plan to save all of Pennsylvania. Sounds fairly simple when she tells the tale. As if.

I’ve heard people criticize Pashinski’s ideas on how best to reform our healthcare and such, but what of Katsock’s vacuous plan? She’s going to go to Harrisburg and demand tort reform from a gaggle of lawyers? Yeah, that’ll work. In a parallel universe it’ll work.

Nah. What Pashinski offers is real world experience. Conversely, the Katsock “plan” is more of the same from her: time-crafted simulations. Her oft-growing resume is far, far beyond threadbare. And her simplistic solutions to complex issues just won’t get it done.

So, anyway, I got me one of those goofy mailers, I’m voting for Ed Pashinski in spite of it and unlike the embittered Reilly and O’Donnell supporters--I’m not going to get all riled up and screaming “foul” to whomever will listen. Imagine that, politics being dirty. Go figure.

Dirty, dirty politics. Boo Hoo.

I took a little spin through the fledgling local blogosphere yesterday only to learn that Walter and the boys over at “Conspiracy Theories R US” have got themselves yet another trumped-up controversy swirling out of control. You know, if this crowd could just get one thing right, I might get off of their backs. Well, maybe.

I wonder how that forensic audit of the mayor’s inaugural ball is shaping up. Walt, care to provide us with an update? Oh yeah, how’s that political action committee of yours doing? Still stuck at $25, or did you throw the change jug at it?

Any-funking-way, the latest reckless accusation from the dizzying anonymous malcontents is that the city’s planning and development director, one Butch Frati, is steering contracts to his former employer-- Franchelli Enterprises--that he, according to the malcontents, still owns part of.

I sh*t you not.

Anonymous said…

The company that is being refered to in the e mail is Francelli Enterprise and Butch Frati is one oof the owners of this company....kinda coincidental as to how this company gets all the contracts for the catch basins isnt it...But that your Mayor Realtor...Leighton is a Mayor that didnt care about the City when he was a City Councilman for 12 years and now everyone is suppose to just" Believe" in everything he says...I think its time for this Administration to be given their walking papers...

Anonymous said…

Go to the web page for the Contractor that is doing the Catch Basins and some street repair for the City...FRANCHELLI ENTERPRISES, INC...look at the person that is on the staff there...Butch Frati http://www.franchelli.com/staff.htm

Anonymous said…

I will comment on Comment #2....The company the writer is talking about is Franchelli Enterprise and if you check the Web Page for them, one of the owners is names Attilio Frati...this is the same guy who is the Director of Planning for the Mayor ....If you check the City Charter, this job requires a minimum of 5 years of experience as a Municipal Government Director...I dont think he has this qualification...but he is the next door neighbor of Ann Bergold and Marc Cour...the author of Wilkes Barre Online ....that is all he needs to get the job ....But I must say...that Butch does a great job despite the political connection...and is a real good guy as well...don't know why he is selling his soul to the devils in City Hall....

You know, some of you overreaching and overzealous people ought to get a hobby already. How ‘bout, um…how ‘bout butt naked skydiving over extremely dense forests? How about pit bull wrestling? Dodging LCTA busses, perhaps? Jesus! Get a freaking life already!

Another day, another scandal in Wilkes-Barre.

Not only are you people sliming a guy for absolutely no good reason, you are sliming one of the most decent men in all of Wilkes-Barre. Anybody who knows him will attest to that undeniable fact. Butch Frati is an honorable man who got involved when it became painfully obvious that stifling reverse-gentrification was the best he could expect in his neighborhood, as well as his entire city. I’ve known him since 1992 and he is above repute.

As to his qualifications, if somebody had bothered to inquire before shooting from the hip quite anonymously, they’d learn that he is clearly qualified and then some. And as far as improving the city’s infrastructure is concerned, he demands that things be done right the first time, which is a clear break from past practices in this city. When it comes to dealing with the city’s many assorted slumlords and landlords, he is tough as nails but fair. This is a guy who truly has the city’s best interests at heart, and yet, the cowardly internet guttersnipes see fit to sully his impeccable reputation. Is nothing off limits, people?

I know those of you who consider yourselves to be elected leaders in waiting think absolutely nothing of tossing around defamatory statements as if they were pearls of wisdom, but the scorched-Earth approach is really getting a bit out of hand. Everyone employed at city hall is a tyrant, a crook and, or a “devil?” Is it really that cut-and-dried in your precipitously declining minds? You are hell-bent for an unrestricted political rapine and anyone standing too close gets inadvertently slaughtered, too? Yours is a curious and circuitous journey that, for the most part, has you all spinning in place ala The Tazmanian Devil, while Wilkes-Barre trudges forward in incremental, but highly visible steps. While some see some positives, you see only negatives. It must really suck to be so completely unremitting in your abject stupidly and negativism.

Now let’s cover what your Google searches failed to reveal, okay? Franchelli Enterprises Inc. was subcontracting for this city long, long before the current administration was even envisioned. Yep, your less than exhaustive “research” has failed you once again. So, what else is new? Facts are dangerous things, and you ought not trip over them as frequently as you do. In fact, many, many moons ago--2001--it was none other than Butch Frati, then a city subcontractor, who advised our former mayor that it was not even remotely possible to construct a theater without blueprints. Imagine that. His firm was supposed to relocate the exposed cable television lines at the ill-fated holepex site before the construction of that ultimately doomed project could get underway in earnest. But, without certifiable blueprints in hand, the moving of the cable lines was not happening. As I previously stated, our now planning and development director demands that things be done right the first time, something that was clearly lacking when the previous administration tried to sidestep red tape every time it was encountered.

Also, if we actually bothered to read that Franchelli web site, we’d have learned that said company specializes in dealing with water lines, gas lines, catch basins--basically anything subterranean and suchlike. They have the expertise a city with literally hundreds of rapidly deteriorating catch basins needs, but, since Butch Frati was lured away from his previous employer and that outfit is still subcontracting for this city…it becomes the latest scandal for those who will stop at nothing to get themselves elected. It’s really quite pathetic, but by no means unexpected when you consider the dubious source.

The ironic part of all of this needless sliming is the fact that Butch Frati spurned the first offer sent his way to join this city’s administration for fear of being labeled as a political hire. As per his selfless nature, he signed on the second time around only because he was being offered that rare chance to help this city hands-on. He supported the man he thought could do this city a ton of good. And after quite a bit of prodding, he agreed to bring his vast expertise into the fold and help not only that man, but this city as a whole. His intentions and motivations were completely honorable, but apparently that matters not to those who would slander everyone and anyone to get what they want. In this city, even the good guys get slimed. So be it.

Let’s revisit this blurb:

.I dont think he has this qualification...but he is the next door neighbor of Ann Bergold and Marc Cour...the author of Wilkes Barre Online ....that is all he needs to get the job

All that one needs to get hired by this city is to reside next door to me? I had no idea I wielded so much power in this city. I say jump and the mayor says how high? Whew, boy! You folks ought to think before you type. Let’s follow that illogic, shall we? I wanted the canopies and the mayor didn’t. How dare he ignore my direct orders! How dare he! He will pay!

Yeah, the illogic is frightening. If I’m so all powerful, how come I’m not the sitting city administrator? Why not a well-paying ghost job? If I went and got Butch hired, how come I’m not set up in some ultra cushy position at taxpayer expense? What the heck happened there? Think, people. I promise, it usually doesn’t hurt. Usually. It’s one thing to be so woefully uninformed, but it’s a helluva lot worse to be so blatantly ignorant. But, that’s what anonymity provides, the right to be grotesquely ignorant at other people‘s expense. Whatever.

You know, y’all can say whatever floats your listing boat about me. Firstly, I bring it all on myself. Secondly, none of it bothers me. And thirdly, it breaks up the monotony that is living in a city where the bulk of the news is predominately generated by the self-aggrandizing dimwitted few. Oh, Mark Coar this and Marc Coor that. He kisses the mayor’s butt because he got free cheese when he was a kid. (?) He’s in love with Kathy Kane. He lives near Anne Bergold, so that’s proof that he’s no damned good. Blah, blah, fu>king blah. Your apparent idiocy makes sophistry of all that you do and all that you say.

But feel free to rumble forth, because the last I heard, Jim McCarthy had not proposed an ordinance whereby stupidity would be illegal. Besides, if you’d all spend more time hating me, you’d more than likely get to sliming the real good guys a whole lot less. I won’t give you much for your chances of acting more responsibly in the future, but you do have my sympathies. You see, if assholes could achieve escape velocity, this city would be a spaceport. Keep on biting my ankles, they can take it.

Sez me.

Jeremy‘s first Halloween

Hey, I’d love to trade barbs with the nincompoops all day long, but I’ve got a Jints game looming on the football horizon.

Later